User reviews

This is one of those first few movies which represent Seagal's best. The story moves by quickly, the action never stops, and the quality is excellent.

Seagal's bombastic aikido style is a sure show-stopper. The action is so captivating that it almost renders the story unnecessary. The story consists of Seagal searching out the murderer of a friend. There are other elements to the plot, but that is the gist. It would do no good to attempt to detail the plot however, as the story is lost in a flurry of fists and knees.

If you are a fan of Seagal's bone-crunching, show-stopping, hard-hitting martial arts style, you will simply love this one.

Although this is quite pretentious and philosophically preachy, this has to be one of my absolute favorites of his older movies.

I love it!

It rates a 7.4 from...

the Fiend :.

IMO, this is at once the best AND the most formulaic of Seagal's endless string of beat-'em-ups. If you like Seagal, you will love this film; if you don't, OFJ probably will not convince you.

The fight scenes have a nice, bone-crunching kinetic energy to them, the plot has something of an urgent feel to it, and the soundtrack contributes greatly to the atmosphere and mood of the proceedings. I especially liked the placement and timing of 'No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn'. This played during the montage driving scene where 'Gino' (Seagal) drives through various ethnic neighborhoods and reacts to various sights and extras - to me this was the actual highlight of the film, giving the viewer a sense of place and humanity missing from most films of this type.

There are, of course, a couple of major problems with the film that keep it from being anything more than a typical Seagal action vehicle. The first one is that 'Gino' is such an unstoppable fighting machine that you never really worry about him or whether he will be a match for the villain once he finds him. And indeed, once Gino catches up with 'Ritchie' (William Forsythe, dreadfully miscast and not especially convincing), the denouement is a completely one-sided *ss-kicking that lacks any suspense whatsoever. Gino just mows Ritchie down like winter wheat and the scene comes to an end. At least Seagal had some trouble with Tommy Lee Jones and the terrorists in 'Under Siege' and with the voodoo gangster guy in 'Marked For Death' - you got the sense that he really was in danger. Not so here.

2ndly, and probably worse, Seagal seems to have decided that he wanted to stretch himself as an actor in this movie. So the script gives the movie way too many scenes where he delivers endless monologues - no, actually they are more like oratories - in a static talking head shot filmed over the shoulder of another actor (or extra). These scenes go on for literally minutes, and bring the film to a screeching halt, because Seagal just can't pull them off. Hell I'm not sure Deniro filmed by Scorcese could pull them off, because these speeches just go on and on until even the biggest Seagal fan is saying 'OK, Steven, we GET IT, you're ACTING, now can we PLEASE MOVE ALONG?!?!?"

Still this film, and the following film 'Under Siege', probably represent the peak of Seagal's career as an action star. After this he started going downhill, getting greasier and flabbier with each new release, and each new release was more and more unconvincing and badly made than the last, until finally he seems to have bottomed out with "Exit Wounds" and direct-to-video crap like "Out For A Kill".

So if you want to watch a GOOD Seagal film, consider this one. It holds up well over repeated viewings and over the decade since it was made.

Now this is action! Out for justice is more like out for revenge on home turf. Bloody, gritty, relentless, pulpy and whispering Steven Seagal (…at his concise best). Nice, but making it work is that action maestro John Flynn is at the helm where he makes great use of the authentic Brooklyn backdrop and implements some cracking in-your-face set-pieces of Seagal harassing, causing a mess (that's property damage) and then effortlessly busting body parts. Oh it's a great sound! He even manages a few amusing wisecracks or so, although I could have heard less of his character's moving childhood stories with some sort of philosophical message, but we're just seeing the sincere reflective side of the man. Even taking time out to look after a dumped puppy, while after an elusive criminal (that he knew through childhood) that's roaming Brooklyn and who brutally killed his partner / friend in cold-blood. I guess this is to counter balance the violence… and there's a lot of it. However Seagal is overshadowed by William Forsythe's dominating, hot-headed and vicious drug fuelled gangster. Definitely one of the most insane villains put on screen and Forsythe milks out every opportunity to display it. When these two characters finally come to blows, it doesn't disappoint. Director John Flynn keeps it lean, mean and quite explosive in a familiar but well done manner, as he knows when to up the ante and to let it settle. The music soundtrack was the only thing I found to get in the way at times, trying to be hip in its flavour. The rest of the cast is reasonably good with the likes of Jerry Orbach, Gina Gershon and Julianna Margulies showing up. An entertainingly unapologetic action joint

I don't like all Seagal movies. I like this one. The script is good, the action is good. The music is above average. The only big problem I have is Seagal can't do accents. Why he tried I don't know. Could have been better. Also, why is he wearing a beret? Also, he talks to wife about his dad like he was someone else. Another thing it seems his dad went around sharpening tools on a wheel. My grandparents came from Europe. Each got a good paying job except for my mom's mom. She had 5 kids to care for.

This violent cop thriller begins when a Brooklyn police named Gino(Steven Seagal) is alerted when his best friend Bobby has been murdered by Richie(William Forsythe), a childhood ex-friend from old Brooklyn neighborhood. Gino tells his chief(Jerry Orbach) which he can encounter Richie and he set off in pursuit . Meanwhile,the Gino's spouse(Jo Champa) ask him the divorce . A doped Richie doesn't mind if he lives or dies and kills everybody around. The Italian mobsters are upset with him and they are looking for him, too. Richie is accompanied by his band(Jay Acanove, Robert Lasardo) taking the law on their own hands.

The film packs thrills, excessive violence, gory killing, profanity and bad language. N.Y. cop doesn't hesitate to utilize his martial arts skills as he fights violent drug dealing and battles corrupts killers and using his usual snapping wrists. This Seagal movie reveals the real-life Aikido master to be more of the Van Damme, Stallone style than the Stanislawski school of acting. Appear as secondary Jerry Orbach, recently deceased, and Shannon Whirry, a soft core star, who holds an alike countenance to Kelly Lebrock, Seagal's former wife. Furthermore, an uncredited, almost extras, John Leguizano, Raymond Cruz and Julie Strain. The Karate expert Seagal co-wrote the script, and co-produced along with Arnold Konpelson . Noisy musical score by means of synthesize, is in charge of David Marshall Frank. Director John Flynn who gave excellent performances to Tommy Lee Jones(Rolling Thunder), Robert Duval(Outfit), Jan Michael Vincent(Defiance), James Woods(Best seller), here gave credibility to Steven Seagal. The result is a strong outing for action enthusiastic.

Sometimes, you're just in the mood for a good ass-kicking action movie. That is the definition of Out for Justice.

The movie is not very big on plot, although it does offer some in-sight on different back-stories, characters' pasts and several other things. We do get to know some characters pretty well, but others not so much.

Steven Seagal stars as the protagonist Gino Felino, the tough, ass-kicking cop who does things his own violent way but still has a soft side evident.

William Forsythe stars as the antagonist Richie Madano, the drug using, dirty, evil, sniveling, careless wise-guy who's violent night-long/citywide rampage has Gino chasing him all over town.

There are a lot of great action scenes, and plenty of ass-kicking by Steven Seagal for those who are into pure action. I usually like movies with a good story, but once in a while I like to kick back with a good, senseless action movie. So if you're into movies that favor action over plot: This is definitely one for you.

8/10.

****SPOILERS**** Outrageously violent, even for a Steven Seagal movie, as our "hero" Steven Seagal, Det. Gino Felino, is out looking for a coke-crazed hood Richie Madano, William Forsythe, and his not-too-bright gang who were responsible for murdering his partner Bobby Lupo, Joe Spatago, on a Brooklyn street in front of his wife and little boy. During the run of the movie Gino breaks every code of justice conduct and police department regulation on the books by busting up some two dozen hoods. Who for the most part tried to avoid the unstable and dangerous out of control policemen. Steven Seagal's Gino Felino even made the cop in the movie "Maniac Cop" look normal.

You wondered why Gino's boss Capt Donziger, Jerry Orbach, never as much as complained, much less suspended, the obviously crazed and homicidal detective and where was the citizens police review board in the movie, where they out to lunch or asleep? Even women weren't safe from the off-the-wall Gino with his brutalizing and humiliating Richie's sister Patti, Gina Gershon, and a bar girl who worked in her nightclub Terry, Shannon Whirry, who were totally innocent and had nothing to do with Bobby Lupo's murder. Even Richie's elderly parents were terrorized by the uncouth Gino even though later Gino apologized to them after the damage was already done, nice man that Gino. Like thats what it would take to make him a good guy in the movie.As for the coke-sniffing and crazy Richie he seemed to want to get caught and never made any attempt to get out of the city and just waited for the end to come partying in a hooker's apartment with his drugged out gang.

Watching Gino in action you wondered if even the Mafia would want him to work for them as a muscle man or enforcer? The Mob was far more civil professional and kinder when they dealt with the same hoods that Gino worked over in the movie.

It turned out that Gino's partner Bobby Lupo was killed by Richie for cheating on his wife by having an affair with Richie's woman Roxanne Ford, Julie Strain, and also, surprise, Bobby was a dirty cop on the take to, thats right, Richie's drug gang.

The final shoot out at Richie's "pad" was as ridicules as the rest of the movie with Gino taking on the entire Madano gang who were dangerous and armed to the teeth single handily and getting a bullet in his gut for the effort. Gino was either too crazy or stupid, or both, to bother to call the police to come to his aid. In fact it was the Mafia who came to the "rescue" after almost everyone of Richie's gang were killed.

Having it out with Richie Gino beats him to a pulp and then instead of trying to arrest the almost dead Richie drives what looks like a sharp screwdriver through his brain killing him. So much for Gino being "Out for Justice" like the movie title says.

For all his viciousness Gino did have his good points but they were at the very beginning and end of the movie. At the start of the movie "Out for Justice" Gino slams a vicious pimp against a brick wall and then throws him head-first into a car windshield. After the pimp brutalized one of his streetwalker for getting pregnant by one of her customers. At the end of the movie Gino let a guy have it who threw a puppy, that Gino later adopted, out of his moving car window by kicking him in his family jewels. As Gino and his wife walked away the puppy showed the creep who tried to kill him just what he thought of him.

"Out for justice" is a movie that pretends to have some plot , but it doesn't have any . Seagal just walks around and kicks butt looking for murderer . The few non-action scenes don't really have any meaning at all . They just there , because you can't make nonstop action with no dialogue.

The investigation isn't interesting and the movie tries to fill time by Seagal talking about his past or subplot with the dog . The only plus is that the fight scenes are actually cool and impressive . They shouldn't make this movie . They should record only the fight scenes and put them on youtube. It would be much wiser. Action movie without no real plot just doesn't work . That's why the porn movies pretends to have some plot. Otherwise the sex would be boring.

William Forsythe usually plays good guys , but here he works well as a villain . Seagal seems to be interested in the movie and actually tries hard to put some emotion into his performance. He fails , but I appreciate the effort. The dog is cute.

Don't watch this movie unless you are a Seagal fan. I give it 3/10.

Steven Seagal stars as Gino a Brooklyn cop who is hunting the killer of his partner in this blood thirsty yet suspenseful actioner that features Seagal in top form. Seagal may need to work on his acting skills but those in search of a high bodycount with tons of carnage will not be disappointed. Out For Justice is also much better then Seagal's previous efforts. (Above The Law,Hard To Kill and Marked For Death.)

Detective Gino Felino is a tough officer in the NYPD Narcotics unit – he is very big on justice and finds even a $3million drugs bust is not enough to stop him taking the time to beat up a cruel pimp. When his friend and partner, Bobby, is murdered in front of his wife and daughter by a drugged up wannabe mobster Richie Madano, Gino takes on his own investigation. Given an unmarked police car and a shotgun by his Captain, Gino goes 'out for justice' in Brooklyn – seeking to bring Richie in by any means necessary, even if it means putting him and many of his men in body bags to do it……

Steven Seagal films have always been the same and will always be the same – the only thing that seems to change is the dating of the film (music, co-stars, setting etc) and the man himself. Here we have a film that does just what many of his films do – pit him against a series of bad guys as he tries to right a wrong (in this case avenge a friend). So basically, if you like Seagal then it is likely that, for all their weaknesses in terms of plotting and production values, you will enjoy his early films more than his modern ones simply because the man himself is much more impressive here than he has been for years. In terms of martial arts skill he is very lean and fast, producing action scenes that lack expensive special effects but feature bone crunching moves and solid skill from Seagal (even if the bad guys help him by coming at him one or two at a time even when there's 15 of them!).

Of course in terms of plot, character and dialogue this is mostly rubbish, but very few viewers will have come to this film expecting it to be strong in these areas. The plot is not about justice – it is revenge and the film never gives this any airtime at all, focusing on bad guys being kicked instead; but when he takes a shotgun and goes out on his own the film leaves you in no doubt that he is more a vigilante with a badge than a cop who is after justice – punishment and beatings are not justice! The plot is no more than a series of fights as Gino hunts down Richie and the dialogue is very little more than some sermonising, tough talk and lots of 'where's Richie' being mumbled in a pretty forced Italian/Brooklyn accent – the occasional bit of bad ADR doesn't help either. It has the occasional good idea but doesn't do much with them as it is more interested in getting to the punch (literally). Production values are not low but they don't compare to his bigger budget things, but 'Brooklyn' looks OK and the film is never set-bound but the music has dated badly and it never feels like it cost very much.

The cast is surprisingly full thanks to plenty of good fortune in the process. Needless to say Seagal is poor when he isn't punching people: his forced accent is pretty poor and he can't make his character anymore than a two-dimensional 'angry cop' cliché. It's not all his fault, his character is lumbered with having to try and be a 'good cop' who just happens to be really friendly with all the local mobsters (except the ones that use drugs – oh, they are the bad ones!) and creates a character that seems to change totally whenever the script demands it. A chubby Forsythe can't do anything other than overact as a villain that has to be extra-bad so that he stands out as not just being another mobster – he is OK for this sort of material but if you look closely at his hands you'll see that those are not gold rings but actually pineapple rings! The support cast is a mix of well known faces in minor roles – some were famous before this film but many others have become famous since, giving the film added interest. The support includes Jerry Orbach, Gina Gershon, Julianna Marguiles (ER), Dominic Chianese (Sopranos) and a very hard to spot early role for John Leguizamo (but don't worry, he gets punched and shot!).

Overall this is not a good film but it does have plenty of good action and is proof that, for all his limitations and recent failures, Seagal was once a good martial artist and he shows it here. The fights are good and almost make up the weak acting, poorly developed plot, average dialogue and low budget but, to be honest, if you're not a fan of Seagal then there isn't a great deal here for you.

It's Steven Segal and he's "Out for Justice" everybody. A story with characters I could care less for, with a score no one cares for and not one relevant theme. You watch this solely for its ass-kickery value. Yes, society's lust for violence makes this one of Segal's most fun films to watch if you ever plan to give any a try. This film makes "Under Siege" look docile if you think about it, and I love it for that. For this alone it's worth watching.

But once again, the main antagonist sucks, Richie Madano is the over-weight, drug loving, trigger happy sadistic madman, and watching his random acts of violence were amusing but it seems pointless by the end. The sorry bastard can't lay a finger on Segal, who dishes out so much pain I think any normal man would've just stayed down. I could watch that final fight again and again for the sole point of laughing so unbearably hard. "Out for Justice" is a fun B-thriller/martial arts film to waste your time on.

This film is the ultimate violence film. i'm not going to give any specific examples but the fight scenes are so brutal is hilarious. its not like one of those japanese ninja violence films, or evil dead type violence. this is like real-life violence. seagal plays gion fellino, a tough brooklyn cop, who is as the title suggests, out for justice. after the start seagal goes round giving a good hiding to anyone who so much as looks at him funny. the scenes in the butcher shop, the pool hall and the final fight are the best examples of the violence in this film, however they are scattered all over the place. its about 2 minutes into the film before the first person gets a severe decking from seagal. and its fairly brutal. the butcher shop is a good example of seagals martial arts abilities, but more of the fact that gino is a total bad-ass. the pool hall is the macho scene and is a ripper. no-one escapes a good decking. and the final fight is pretty much the harshest beating i've seen in any film. well apart from when like old people get battered but you'll see what i mean if you watch it. make sure to get it on dvd too. its really badly cut on vhs. overall, this film is an all time ripsnorter and probably my favourite seagal film, and in my top ten films of all time.

I love this cast, love this movie, I mean c'mon the main guys name is Gino Felino!

We all know SS goes on to be a world class douche bag, but this is a great action movie.

This is Steven Seagal's best movie. In it, he actually wrestles with the character he plays, and comes up with a dramatic performance that, while no Brando, is still quite believable.

This is a very violent film. It is also a very troubling film. William Forsythe - who also turns in a better than average performance - plays a lower-rung mob boss who, strung out on crack and finding his girl-friend cheating on him, turns psychotic and suicidal. Not a good mix - he starts blowing people away just because they irritate him a little.

The film is also an attempt to deal with the continuing fragmentation of neighborhood communities that were once the heart and soul of larger cities. The community is preserved, but only tentatively - the seeds of its eventual collapse have clearly been planted. The extreme violence of the film thus becomes the manifestation of a unresolvable frustration with the tensions of a community falling apart.

All this adds up to a surprisingly complex Steven Seagal action film that will haunt you long after the closing credits.

This is basically a story or revenge. Proud Italian cop, Gino Felino (Seagal in one of his better acting efforts) is chasing down bad guy, wannabe mobster, chicken s..t piece of puke, Richie Madano, played with such villainry by character actor, William Forsythe, (gees Steve must get sick of being surrounded by good actors). Richie had his own reasons for gunning down a neighborhood friend/and dirty cop, Bobby Lupo, Gino's partner and best friend, who we only meet at the start, before Seagal throws a black pimp through the windshield of a car. Well, not entirely. He came charging at Steve and you can pretty much fill in the rest, cause you know what happens to anyone who does that. Now why did the pimp get angry at Steve. Well, just lets Seagal had his reasons. The pimp was getting throttled, because he was slapping one of his ho's around, who has gotten pregnant, and he was spouting off some threats to Seagal. They were lewd and disrespecting too, about family members. In this first scene, Steven sabotages this undercover operation, with this soon to be dead partner, on principal. This is Seagal's bloodiest film ever, as a number four outing, fans won't be disappointed if loving the others. It's a shame, that in today not so fortunate times, Seagal just resorts to dishing out crap, one b grade after the other, The Foreigner, a few years back was a joke. Most of this action charged movie, where Steve doesn't muck around here, has him trying to track Richie down, one instance, by chance, he spots him, where a car chase ensues, followed by some heavy violence, and much more later. One elongated scene, has Seagal, going to Richie's younger brother's, another piece of.... who runs a subterranean bar/snooker place. Insults and many fists are exchanged, and a lot of blows at Steve's hand, one guy spitting out a score of teeth for his futile attempt when actually trying to hit him. Bad mistake. Pool cues become weapons of death, where a cool and riveting stick fight ensues. Seagal too shares some childhoods stories, and there are other lighter and potent scenes, and we do see a lighter side to his character. I fully appreciated these scenes and they blend in well with the rest of the movie. We do too have the mafia who backs up Steve, in his quest to track down the enemy, who is tarnishing this mob's rep, with having authorities think Richie's with them which he's certainly not. Steven also makes a friend, a little puppy, who some d..k throws out a window, where the dog comes bite it's neglected owner in the last scene, another I appreciated. A good note to end this flick, on especially after the garbage has been taken out prefore OFJ is quite a good cop drama, with a lot of action and bloody violence, (I'm talking' the loss of a few body parts) where the cat and the mouse run rampant, which makes for a great moment of vengeance, when they finally do meet.

When detective Joe Spataro is gunned down in broad daylight in front of his family by a gangster known to the immediate world because both grew up in that area, bad guy William Forsythe doesn't reckon on the fact that Spataro's partner Steven Segall also grew up in the same area and knows him as well. A bad man Segall to have on your case and for the next 90 minutes it's all about Segall on the hunt for Forsythe.

Forsythe made a career of playing bad guys, he played Al Capone in the Nineties revival of The Untouchables, but he's at his meanest here. He's all wigged out on cocaine whether he sniffs it or smokes the crack/ cocaine, he's just one loose cannon. The mob doesn't even want to have anything to do with him. In fact Forsythe in Out For Justice makes Joe Pesci's Tommy T from Goodfellas look like Mr. Rogers. Forsythe is the best thing about Out For Justice.

When what's behind all this is finally revealed, Spataro was one dumb fool although he shouldn't have died for the reasons given. Let's just say he should have exercised better self control in a few areas.

Segall impassively stalks his way through the film doing whatever he has to do to get Forsythe. It's not about the bad guys, it's about revenge for his boyhood pal on another boyhood pal.

Fans of Steven Segall will just love this violence fest. Every other minute he's doing bodily harm to somebody to get at Forsythe. Enough violence to go around for those who have that taste. The acting will never win any awards. Location shooting in Brooklyn definitely helps, I recognized quite a few of the locations.